It was decided early on that the game would utilize polygonal levels, but that Sonic himself and other on-screen characters would be sprite-based. STI did pull out some impressive graphical tricks, and early builds of X-Treme really were looking pretty good. Another major implementation was the "wrap-around" camera system. Designed to give players a full view of the level to the left and right as well as in and out, the camera distorted the screen to seem as though you were viewing it through a peephole. Oookay. Apparently, this worked better in practice than in writing...

   Much like the Special Stages in Knuckles' Chaotix, all of X-Treme's worlds were built inside giant "tubes" with no center of gravity, allowing the player to run up walls. (Although the level design was obviously much more intricate than the Chaotix Special Stages.) The four planned Zones that I know of were: Jade Gully, Crystal Frost, Red Sands, and Galaxy Fortress.

   The other big thing for X-Treme was Sonic's vastly expanded roster of moves. Aside from the standard Sonic Spin, here's a list of some cool-sounding tricks that, as fate would have it, never made it into Sonic's collective arsenal:

• SpinBash - A quick forward attack modified from the Spin Dash
• SpinSlash - A mid-air, 360° attack
• Ring Throwing - Sacrifice a Ring from the tally to hurl at a Badnik
• Power Ball - An attack designed to strike straight down on enemies below
• Super Bounce - A jump which offers more height, but less control than a normal jump
• Ring Shield - A way to forfeit collected Rings for a shield
• Sonic Boom - A 360° attack used in conjunction with the Ring Shield

   The game's main characters were Sonic, Tiara, Professor Gazebo, and Dr. Robotnik. Fang the Sniper and Metal Sonic were set to cameo as boss characters, but there was no sign at all of Tails, Knuckles, or anyone else. The boss stages were largely based on the NiGHTS board...a giant, circular arena. In the middle of these arenas was a large circle on the ground, above which a tall spiral of Rings towered into the air, circling a giant jewel (Chaos Emeralds, presumably). Interesting, I never did find out what the deal with that was.

   At risk of my own life, I now post a list of the men responsible for what may have turned out to be Sonic's miserable death (you may recognize a few names from the credits of successful Sonic games, Sonic 3 & Knuckles in particular):

• Mike Wallis - Producer
• Ofer Alon - Technical director/engineer, lead programmer, and co-lead designer
• Fei Cheng - Computer graphics artist/designer and conceptual design
• Chris Coffin - Lead boss stage/boss FX programming and conceptual gameplay design
• Howard Drossin - Music and sound effects director
• Ross Harris - Lead computer graphics artist/animator and conceptual design
• Jason Kuo - Boss layout lead
• Andrew Probert - Computer graphics artist/designer and conceptual design
• Chris Senn - Art director, co-lead designer, team coordinator, and conceptual music
• Richard Wheeler - Designer, world layout lead and conceptual gameplay design

   Well, just about a month before the game's release, Sega of Japan pulled the plug on it. Some Japanese execs who saw the game apparently weren't too impressed, and didn't allow SoA to release a game that may have damaged their mascot's reputation beyond repair. Although to me (and many other gamers) the game was looking pretty slick, the novel 3D tricks implemented did seem just a little too left-field to risk on a character as important as Sonic. Personally, I kind of wish they'd have shipped the game anyway, only maybe with another character...Espio the Chameleon would've been a good choice, as he can run up walls and ceilings anyway. But then, the game only looked good, and as gaming history has proven, looks can be so very deceiving. Some folks who played the short demo at E3 '96 weren't too impressed with the way it was shaping up, so maybe X-Treme is better off in the infinite bounds of gaming limbo. I end this historical essay off with a quote from an interview with Mike Wallis, the game's producer: "This isn't going to be the only Sonic game on Saturn by any means. He is Sega's flagship guy." It's just too shameful to comment further...